I Promise
by SkyGem
Summary: 18 year old Giotto's parents have just died, making him and his 4 year old brother, Tsuna, orphans. Because Giotto can't support both of them, Tsuna is taken away. Now, 3 years later, it's time for the siblings to meet again. One-shot. AU. No pairings.


Summary: 18 year old Giotto's parents have just died, turning him and his 4 year old brother, Tsuna, into orphans. Because Giotto can't support both of them, Tsuna is taken away. Now, 3 years later, it's time for the siblings to meet again. One-shot. AU. No pairings.

SkyGem: Here's number three! I'll never finish at this rate…anyways, I just go this idea into my head and just had to write it! I hope you like!

Disclaimer: I don't own KHR.

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><p>"<em>No! Big brother! Don't let them take me!" cried the little brunette in distress, tears flowing down his face. "BIG BROTHER!"<em>

_Giotto watched helplessly as the only family he had left was dragged into the car and driven away, out of his life._

_Only after the car was completely out of sight did he let the burning tears flow over onto his cheeks, cursing his inability to stop them from taking his precious little brother away from him. Now, so soon after their parents had passed, was when Tsuna needed his big brother the most and he couldn't even be there for him._

_He was a failure as a brother._

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><p><em><span>Time Skip: Three years Later<span>_

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><p>A certain twenty-one-year-old blond reclined back in his seat, his melancholy expression vastly different from the one that usually graced his features as he stared at the object in his hand. It was a picture; a picture of what looked to be a boy in his mid-teens holding a few months old infant.<p>

The blond, who went by the name of Giotto, was supposed to be signing paperwork, but had come across the picture hidden away in one of his drawers while he was searching for something.

G, his best friend, was also in the room, and when he saw that Giotto had stopped working, he was about to reprimand him, but stopped as he saw the expression on the other male's face. It was an expression G recognised well, and one he hadn't seen in quite a while.

Getting up, the redhead walked over to see what had brought on this bout of depression, and stopped short when he saw the picture, getting caught up in his memories. The infant in the picture was one he had known well; one he hadn't seen in almost three years, one who was like the little brother he'd never had.

"I wonder how he's grown up," said G in a voice just barely above a whisper.

Giotto just shook his head slowly, saying a quiet voice, "I should have fought harder."

In a voice that suggested this was an old argument, G replied with, "You did all you could, Giotto. You know it's not your fault."

"But if I'd just argued harder, been more convincing, then maybe they would have agreed to let me keep him! I should have been there to help him with his grief! I was the only thing that he had left and I let him down!"

Growling under his breath, G stepped in front of his boss and surrogate brother, and placed both hands on the man's shoulders. "You did absolutely everything you could and more, Giotto. Neither Tsuna nor anyone else will blame you!"

Giotto just looked down, and G could tell that he didn't believe him.

Just then, the office door burst open, and the other five guardians came bustling in, all arguing with each other.

"-not my fault-"

"-wasn't the one that blew up-"

"- going to kill you-"

"-pay for the damages-"

"-lord won't forgive-"

All the arguments stopped mid-shout as everyone's eyes landed on G, standing in front of Giotto, his hands planted on his shoulders, his face only inches away from the other's.

Everyone stared in shock before Daemon smirked and said, "Sorry to intrude," before turning and beginning to herd everyone out.

Both G and Giotto blinked, before the former blushed furiously, trying to stutter his way through an explanation.

When that didn't work, G growled, picked up the nearest thing he could find (which turned out to be a pen) and threw it with deadly accuracy at the illusionist's head.

Immediately sensing the oncoming projectile, Daemon quickly spun around and caught it in his hand, tutting in disapproval. "I know you may be mad at us for intruding, but that's no excuse for trying to impale me with Primo's pen, dear storm guardian."

Throwing him a death glare, G asked, "Just how stupid are you exactly, melon-head?"

Daemon was about to retaliate, but the impending argument was suddenly diverted (or at least postponed) as they heard Asari's panicked voice say, "Giotto!"

Immediately, all heads turned to see that the amused light one would have expected in the blonde's eyes was absent, and there were instead tears streaming down his cheeks.

"Are you okay, Giotto?" asked Knuckle, approaching his friend in concern.

Giotto merely shook his head, a hand pressed to his mouth as if trying to stifle a sob. "I-I just miss him so much," he choked out after a long, tense moment.

"He?" asked Lampo in confusion.

It didn't take long for Asari to notice the photo that was still firmly clutched in Giotto's hand.

Gently prying his fingers open, the rain guardian carefully extracted the picture, and was surprised at what he saw.

Seeing his gaping expression, the other four guardians approached to see what he was holding.

Lampo gasped, and Alaude's eyes narrowed.

"Who's _that_?" asked Daemon, voicing everyone's confused thoughts.

Seeing as Giotto was in no state to answer, and knowing the blond wouldn't mind his telling the others about it, G answered, saying, "_That_ is Tsunayoshi, Giotto's brother."

"Brother?" asked Knuckle in surprise, and Alaude's eyebrows rose into his hairline.

G nodded. "Giotto and I were fourteen when he was born. He was such a sweet child…"

There was a moment of silence before Alaude voiced the question everyone was too afraid to ask. "What happened to him?"

There was another sob from Giotto, and G's expression became dark.

"He was taken to a group home when Giotto's parents died. Neither of us has seen him since."

"But that was three years ago!" gaped Lampo, and another sob forced its way out of Giotto's mouth, immediately making the lightening guardian feel guilty.

"Why don't you try and get him back?" asked Knuckle quietly. "You have the money to support him now, and we'll help in any way we can too."

"I don't know what home they took him to," whispered Giotto with a shake of his head.

"It would take our men less than a week to find him if he's anywhere in Italy," said Alaude in a suspicious voice. "That's not the real reason."

Giotto's expression suddenly became absolutely terrified.

"You're afraid that he won't want to see you," stated the cloud guardian bluntly, "You're afraid that he's already found a family that loves him."

Giotto was shaking now, his eyes staring off into space.

Suddenly, the blond looked into his friend's eyes and said in a quiet voice, "I can't, Alaude. I've already lost him once; I just can't go through it again."

No one had a chance to respond, as they were soon kicked out, even G.

As the door banged shut behind them, G made a split-second decision as he turned to look at Alaude.

"I need you to find Tsunayoshi before next week. Can you do that for me?"

The cloud guardian smirked. "What would make you think I couldn't?"

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><p>A young, seven-year-old boy with dishevelled, gravity defying, brown hair and chocolate brown eyes sat with his knees drawn up to his chest, drawing little stick figures in the soil with a stick.<p>

In the picture were two stick figures, one twice as tall as the smaller one, and they seemed to be holding hands.

The brunette, whose name was Tsunayoshi, stared at his picture a moment as he felt tears prickle at the edges of his eyes. Today was one of the two days he hated most in the year, the other being the day his parents had died.

Today was the day he had been taken away from his home, and his older brother.

He still remembered that day in vivid detail; the almost cruelly perfect weather, and the expression on his brother's face, blank as a slate.

Tsuna knew his brother couldn't have done anything, but a small, childish part of him still felt bitter about the whole situation; he wished his brother had done** something**, he wished he had at least shed some tears.

Suddenly, a shadow fell over him, pulling the young boy out of his thoughts, and he looked up to see the owner of the shadow.

When the little boy saw who was standing there, he thought his eyes were definitely playing tricks on him.

Dashing away the tears that were blurring his vision, he took another look at the person above him to see that he had been joined by five others who Tsuna didn't recognise.

But that wasn't important, because Tsuna **did** recognise the owner of the shadow.

Staring up at the man with the pale red hair that was almost pink, the kind and caring eyes which were a few shades darker than his hair, and the distinctive red flames that had their place on his right cheek, Tsuna felt his breath catch in his throat.

Expressionlessly, the man bent down, looking at Tsuna's picture.

"What were you drawing?" he asked in a voice that the brunette hadn't heard in a long time.

When Tsuna didn't reply, the man looked up from the floor to meet his eyes, and threw him an encouraging smile.

Tsuna ducked his head in embarrassment, wondering why he suddenly felt so shy. "I'm drawing big brother," he whispered, and all the other men had to lean in to hear him. His reply left smiles on their faces, but Tsuna didn't notice that; he was staring at the man that was kneeling down beside him, the man that was like a second brother to him.

The man smiled, and suddenly, Tsuna felt something inside him snap, and before he knew it, he was throwing himself into the other man's arms, sobbing, "G."

There was a moment of silence before the G slowly wrapped his strong arms around the young boy's shaking frame.

"I-I missed you so much!" he sobbed into his shirt, his thin arms wrapped around the storm guardian's neck. "G, I w-want to go home! Please take me home!"

Without a word, the twenty-one-year old straightened up, taking Tsuna, who was still clinging to his neck, up with him.

Gently rubbing his back, he said, "Shh, it's okay, Tsuna, it's okay. We're here to take you home right now."

It took a few moments before Tsuna finally quieted down, and when he did, he looked around at all the big brothers that had come with G, confused.

G, seeing his confusion, smiled. "Tsuna," he said, "these guys are friends of your brother and I. They helped me find you."

The other five men smiled kindly, and Tsuna smiled back, waving shyly at them. "Nice to meet you," he said quietly, "My name is Tsunayoshi."

"Nice to meet you, Tsunayoshi. My name is Daemon," said an odd looking man with blue hair that reminded of Tsuna of a melon. When the brunette told him just that, the illusionist didn't blow up as the others had expected; he merely laughed good naturedly and held out his arms.

Reaching out, Tsuna allowed himself to be taken into this strange man's surprisingly loving and gentle arms, needing to satisfy the hunger for affection that had been gnawing at him these past three years at the group home.

"Such a sweet boy," said Daemon as he passed the young brunette to Lampo, who eagerly held out his arms.

"I'm Lampo," said the lightening guardian with a smile as he looked into Tsuna's eyes briefly before giving him a small squeeze.

And like that, Tsuna passed through the arms of a priest named Knuckle, a scary-looking yet kind man named Alaude, and a Japanese man named Asari.

"I can understand why Giotto was so upset," commented Asari, whose arms were still wrapped around Tsuna.

"Upset?" asked the seven-year-old.

Knuckle nodded at this, saying, "Just last week he had something like a nervous breakdown. We discovered why when we saw him holding a picture of the two of you, from not long after you were born."

"He was…upset about me?" asked Tsuna uncomprehendingly.

G smiled reassuringly, running a hand gently through Tsuna's hair. "He misses you. He was crying so much last week, but even that was nowhere near as much as he cried the day you were taken."

"But he didn't cry the day I was taken…" Tsuna said, trailing off.

G's smile became sad. "Oh, but he did. He just waited until you were gone to start crying, so you wouldn't worry about him. He was a complete wreck for a week afterwards."

"R-really?" asked Tsuna, feeling his little heart break. His big brother had cried for him?

"That's right," said G. "And he's been working so hard these past three years, just so he could earn enough money to be able to support you. He's been trying so hard so he could get you back, little one."

"But he needs a little help," said Asari.

"He's scared that you hate him now," added in Lampo.

"He's scared that you won't want to go back home with him," said Knuckle.

"He's scared to lose you a second time," concluded Alaude.

"So he needs a little help from you," G finally said, taking Tsuna from Asari's arms. "Will you help your big brother, Tsuna?"

"Of course!"

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><p>Giotto was in his office once again, this time actually doing his work, when the door opened, and in stepped Daemon and Asari with Cheshire grins spreading across their faces.<p>

"Oh, hey guys," said Giotto, "I thought you were out? When did you come back?"

Ignoring his questions, the two walked forward and pulled him out of his chair, guiding him to the door.

"Asari?" he asked. "Daemon?"

"Just stay quiet," said Daemon.

"And follow us," added Asari.

Still more than a little confused, Giotto followed them, his hyper intuition giving him mixed feelings about the next few minutes, fear and excitement churning in his stomach for no apparent reason that he could discern.

It didn't take long before they arrived at the living room, and Giotto found the rest of his guardians gathered around something.

At the sound of their arrival, everyone turned to look at him, and with matching smiles, they all parted to reveal something that made Giotto's heart stop.

There, sitting in G's lap, was a tiny boy with dishevelled brown hair and curious brown eyes.

When he saw Giotto, the boy's eyes widened, and he quickly scrambled out of G's lap to stand several feet away, staring at him.

"Tsu…na?" asked Giotto, hand unconsciously reaching towards the little figure.

"Big brother…" came the reply as the young boy took a few steps forward, then broke into a run.

As Tsuna threw himself into his brother's arms, Giotto caught him with well-practised ease, almost as if it were a reflex.

Giotto just stood there for a moment, clearly shocked, before tightly wrapping his arms around his brother and burying his face in his soft brown hair, trying not to cry.

"Oh, Tsuna, Tsuna, Tsuna," he breathed, his voice sounding happier than any of the guardians (other than G) had ever heard it.

"Big brother," Tsuna sobbed, burying his head further into his brother's chest. "I missed you so much!"

"Shh, sh, sh," said Giotto, shushing him gently. "It'll be okay, Tsuna. I'll never let anyone take you away again."

Tsuna, not looking up, asked in a muffled voice, "You promise?"

Giotto didn't even have to think about it. From the moment he had seen his brother again, he'd felt the need welling up inside him; it was physically impossible for him to survive another separation from this little boy who was such a huge part of his life.

"I promise."

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><p>SkyGem: Aww, cute little GioTsuna family moment there! I hope you guys liked it, yes? Please do leave a review and tell me what you thought! Ciao~<p> 


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